As a survey reveals some tots’ first word is ‘tablet’, Amanda Killelea looks at the benefits and dangers of letting our children use tablets and smartphones

Little Ashlynn is a toddler so it’s not surprising that she is having a tantrum with huge great tears rolling down her face as she screams at her parents. But it’s not because she wants her favourite teddy – she is screaming for her iPad.

Footage of her tantrum has become a YouTube hit, no doubt watched by many parents, because the scenario is familiar. This is the generation of the iBaby – tots who at less than a year old know their iPhones from their Androids and spend hours swiping away on electronic devices.

In fact, in a new survey by Tech21, 8% of parents said one of their child’s first words was “tablet”, or the family name for a tablet.

Around 40% of toddlers are allowed to use the device for up to an hour each day, but for 7% of youngsters this time jumps to a staggering 3-4 hours a day.

With 81% of parents saying they own a tablet, it is hardly surprising that busy mums turn to them to buy themselves some time for chores, or to occupy their fidgety toddler while out for a family meal or on a long car journey.

But what effect is this having? Is it preparing children for the technological world or is it at the expense of their speech and social development?

Play expert Dr Amanda Gummer, who runs the Fundamentallychildren.com website advising parents on the use of technology, says parents must exercise caution with very young children.

“There is nothing wrong with them using technology, they are growing up as digital natives, but it is all about the how and how long,” says Dr Gummer.

Getty

Kids playing on digital tablet device

“We champion the idea of a balanced play diet. There isn’t anything wrong with kids using a bit of tech and knowing how to swipe a screen, because some children engage with that and learn quite a lot from it, but it needs to ­be ­complemented with active physical play, social play, creative play that encourages manual dexterity or they don’t develop their finger muscles. Play-Doh and things like that are really important, as well as just running around outside. There is a time and a place for technology. Children’s attention spans are normally about five minutes per year of their life, so after about 15 minutes for a three-year-old, they are not getting anything extra out of it. They might be watching ­something, but they aren’t learning.

“Their ability to learn is in short, sharp blocks, so it is about not using it as a babysitter. It is about ­everything in moderation, and what is moderation for an eight-year-old is not for a three-year-old. An eight-year-old can sit down for half an hour or 45 minutes and get involved with Minecraft, but a three-year-old is not getting much out of it doing the same thing over and over again.”

Dr Jane O’Connor, former primary school teacher and a senior researcher at Birmingham City University, was so concerned about the effect her iPad was having on her son that she is carrying out an academic study.

“On maternity leave, I spent a lot of time in cafes with other mums and in people’s living rooms,” she says. “When their babies got to six or seven months they started to give them iPads or ­smartphones as a distraction, a toy or a treat. Watching my son interact with the screen, I felt concerned that I was handing over my parental responsibilities to a pixelated piece of programming.”

Her survey of parents has provided some surprising results.

“There is a minority who are very anti young children using technology of any type. They feel it should be a time of ­innocence and protection, and see ­technology as corrupting,” she says.

“However, most people felt that ­technology is part of their children’s lives now. They are going to need to know how to use it in order to progress at school and in their future lives and felt it was justified and important to let children engage with touchscreen technology.”

Many parents felt there were lots of positives to letting their babies get to grips with touchscreens as early as possible.

“Another advantage was using ­touchscreens as a distraction when they want their children to be quiet in a car journey or on an aeroplane,” says Jane. “Some also thought it helped their ­children to develop motor skills through the swiping and tapping.”

But despite the advantages, many parents had concerns as well.

“Lots of people were worried about their children becoming addicted and about their eyesight and concentration span if they use ­touchscreens too much. But there are no government, NHS, or educational ­guidelines at all about under three-year-olds using iPads or touchscreens. They haven’t been around long enough,” she says.

“Another big concern is whether using touchscreens a lot interferes with normal interaction and communication. Children can’t learn to speak through watching television. They can improve their vocabulary but to learn language you have to talk to ­somebody. So however much these apps promise they can help to learn language, there is no evidence to show they can.”

Can using technology harm children?

Yes: My two year old is addicted

Businesswoman Kylie Connell, 30, from Frome, Somerset, is a single mum to daughters Alanna, five, and Amelie, two. She says:

When Alanna was a baby, if I needed some peace I’d let her play with my phone. But by the time I had Amelie, I’d learned the error of my ways.

Even so, Amelie is completely obsessed with iPads, phones and tablets. If my phone beeps a message and I get it out, her eyes widen and she barks at me, ‘Back! Back!’, meaning, give it back.

She knows that she can’t spend all day on the computer but woe betide the moment she sees an iPad. She just changes into a different child. She’s obsessed with Frozen, Peppa Pig, and a song called Gummi Bears on YouTube.

Kylie Connell with Alanna and Amelie

There’s a dramatic difference to how she reacts to music on the stereo and music on the iPad, though. On the stereo she dances and sings; on the iPad she just stares, transfixed and unblinking.

She has to have the iPad on her lap or a massive tantrum ensues. She points, screams and starts visibly shaking. ‘Mine! Mine!’, she’ll shout. I’ll say no and try to distract her but it’s often too late.

Her eyes fill with real tears and I feel like I’m genuinely upsetting her, but I know I can’t give in because otherwise she’ll know I’ve got a breaking point. Sometimes her tantrums can last for hours.

Last week we were at the park with 15 other children and enjoying a lovely picnic. Two children had brought iPads and I turned around to find all 15 children huddled around the screens. Two were playing World Of Warcraft – the rest were just watching like zombies. These iPads are like homing devices, they just lure children in.

Amelie loves building blocks, spinning tops and books. But she loves the iPad more.

No: It helps them learn

Natalie Edmonds, 29, from Weston-super-Mare, has let her son Elliot, three, use her smartphone and laptop since the age of just 11 months. She says:

I got a smartphone when Elliot was about 11 months. Straight away he learned how to unlock it and play on a dice game on it and he loved it. On my laptop he has found Minesweeper and loves how he can make things explode.

He has been using the laptop and mouse since he was two and there are loads of positives. It helps his hand-eye co-ordination and I do think it will give him a head start.

When children get to college and university, everything will involve technology so he is picking up skills now that he can carry with him through life.

Elliot aged 13 months with mum Natale's laptop

There are a lot of apps that have introduced him to educational things that I wouldn’t have shown him yet, like different shapes and things.

I don’t worry that he spends too much time on them. I let him decide.

Some days if we are busy he will spend no time on them. If it’s wet or I have work to do and he wants to, he will spend two or three hours on things working out how to complete the games. Sometimes if he is playing a Thomas the Tank Engine game online, he will stop and go and get his Thomas toys out, so the two complement each other.

I know children can get addicted to a computer game for a few days or weeks, but then they get fed up of them and move on to something else. I want Elliot to learn when he has had enough and to make decisions for himself. I don’t want to set an alarm and tell him he has to get off a game.

We do lots of different activities together, like playing with a train set, going to the park, playing outside and socialising with other children. We do painting at home, but then he will also use a painting app that will let him do different things and use a greater range of colours and accessories than we have at home.